Friday, August 17, 2007

Slandering our Armed Forces Again

The Detroit Free Press, with the assistance of the Associated Press slandered Marine Lt. General James Mattis. At first, they just present the facts,

In recent months, the senior Marine commander on the West Coast has dismissed charges against three troops implicated in the deaths of 24 Iraqis and reduced the sentences of three others in the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi man.

Lt. Gen. James Mattis' actions in two of the war's highest-profile criminal cases underscore one of the wildcards in the military justice system: the sweeping powers of a commanding general to decide the fate of those accused of war crimes.

Later in the article though, they dredged up the old quote that first brought General Mattis into our collective consciousness,

"It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up-front with you, I like brawling."

Well! He certainly sounds like an ill-mannered thug, doesn't he? Yes, he does, unless you get the entire quote,

Actually, it’s a lot of fun to fight. You know, it’s a hell of a hoot… It’s fun to shoot some people. I’ll be right upfront with you, I like brawling… You go into Afghanistan, you got guys who slap women around for five years because they didn’t wear a veil. You know, guys like that ain’t got no manhood left anyway. So it’s a hell of a lot of fun to shoot them.

So while he did bruise the delicate sensibilities of CAIR and their anti war fellow travelers, after reading more about him, I'm eternally glad we've got him and other soldiers like him on our side.

"No one can find a safe way out for himself if socety is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interests, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle. None can stand aside with unconcern; the interests of everyone hang on the result." -- Ludwig von Mises